Janet Sterman forwarded the following:
The Newton Board of Aldermen has held several committee meetings to consider passing a moratorium that could prevent a dispensary from opening there. The current proposal being considered would put the moratorium in place until March 2014. Some public officials have emphasized that they support a dispensary locating in Newton, and that they intend to remove the moratorium before March and replace it with sensible regulations.
My concern is that once a moratorium is in place, there is no guarantee it will be removed in time for a dispensary to get licensed to locate here. A moratorium which extends until March could be interpreted as local opposition to dispensaries by the state Department of Public Health (DPH). DPH will be more likely to issue licenses for dispensaries siting in cities and towns where moratoriums are set to expire before January, 2014. This is why it is important that any moratorium in Newton does not extend past December.
A moratorium threatens the ability of a medical marijuana dispensary applicant to earn a license in Newton. Phase 2 of the State’s application process asks for site identification, along with site specific supporting materials. The application is due November 21st. Some members of the Board, are proposing a moratorium that would extend into next year. That creates a problem…
Medical marijuana dispensary applications are scored by the State on a points system. Under a moratorium that extends into next year, and waiting for the aldermen to act on zoning, a dispensary applicant in Newton would not be able to identify a site by November 21st, and would lose points to applicants in communities who can identify their proposed location.
There’s only a handful of dispensary licenses designated for Middlesex County, and a disproportionately high number of applicants. If enough applicants in other communities meet the State’s requirement in a timely fashion, and the licenses are awarded, Newton would not get a dispensary. This is the risk some aldermen have decided to take.
I question both the wisdom of a moratorium, and the need to address zoning at this time, for what at best would be a single dispensary. The State has established setbacks for all dispensaries from residences and schools. Comparatively, these setbacks far exceed the zones where we currently allow liquor stores. Does medical marijuana pose some threat to the community that recreational alcohol does not?
Unfortunately, some of the aldermen just don’t understand medical marijuana or its benefits to patients. They view medical marijuana dispensaries as if they were recreational marijuana stores, rather than a place to fill a prescription medication, like a pharmacy. The good news is that some of the aldermen do understand this issue, and they deserve a lot of credit for trying to convince their colleagues to forego this ill conceived moratorium.
Sick and dying patients have waited long enough for safe and legal access to medical marijuana. Many of the people who would benefit the most, have significant mobility issues. It is entirely unnecessary to make them leave Newton to obtain medical marijuana. I hope the Board of Aldermen doesn’t screw this up.
I cannot support the proposed moratorium.
In September 2004, I received a phone call from my mother, who told me her breast cancer had returned and that it was terminal, albeit treatable with chemotherapy. She was told she could survive up to 18-24 months with treatment, but only a matter of months or weeks without it. My sister was expecting her first child in November and my mother opted for chemotherapy in order to sustain herself long enough to meet her youngest granddaughter. My mother was always petite, and the side effects of chemotherapy (e.g., nausea) caused her to lose considerable weight and suffer terribly. In early November, she was able to hold her granddaughter in her arms, if only for a few minutes because of her weakened condition.
My mother discussed with her family breaking the law (not something a woman of her generation found easy) by using marijuana to help ease her pain and nausea. But given the aggressive progression of her cancer and her weakened immune system, not to mention her physical and emotional misery, my mother instead made the hard decision to stop chemotherapy and enter hospice. A few days after Christmas, shortly before midnight on the day she entered hospice, she died peacefully on her own terms. She had asked her family to wait until she was settled into hospice to visit her, and out of respect for her wishes, we complied. So we were unable to spend her last Christmas together and she never had the chance to say goodbye to her family, including her newest grandchild.
A moratorium of even a few months could mean the loss of precious moments together with family and friends, and needless suffering for many who could benefit from access to a medical marijuana dispensary. Such access would have eased my mother’s suffering and death, and could have prolonged her life even if only for a few months so she could spend more time with her family as she had hoped. For those reasons, and for all of the reasons Mike Striar gave above, I will be voting against the proposed moratorium.
So many questions about this.
Is the moratorium possibly being extended a function of our not knowing if a dispensary in Newton is a good idea, or is it based on opposition to a dispensary anywhere?
How awful would it be if the dispensary were in say Watertown, instead of Newton?
If we didn’t extend the moratorium, and an applicant that wants to place one here comes forward, what control does Newton still have to properly vet and approve or disapprove it being in Newton? In other words, what’s the practical downside to not having extended the moratorium?
It seems like there IS a downside to pushing the moratorium into next year, inasmuch as it may take Newton out of play.
As in most politics, a vote of “no” needs to be clarified! Encouraging our Alderman to vote “no” on the moratorium gives Newton the flexibility needed when choosing to allow RMD’s to be located in Newton. A vote of “yes” extends Newton’s moratorium through March 2014 and could be interpreted as local opposition to dispensaries by the state Department of Public Health (DPH). The MA DPH will be more likely to issue licenses for dispensaries siting in cities and towns where moratoriums are set to expire before January, 2014. I can’t speak for Watertown, but we have is no guarantee the MA DPH will choose to site an RMD there. Newton’s Aldermen only have a say-so on siting dispensaries in Newton. I encourage everyone to write our Aldermen (including your own personal story) ASAP. Thanks!
@Ted, Thank you for sharing that poignant experience. I had a similar experience with my own mother five years earlier, likewise a petite woman who was ravaged by chemotherapy. She was told that she likely had weeks to live but with determination, perseverance, many brutal rounds of in-patient chemotherapy and radiation, her life was extended for a year. It was a lost year in many ways because she was liberally prescribed high doses of pain medication, anti-nausea medication and tranquillizers, the combined effects of which left her personality a shell of the strong woman I knew. She was gone long before her body died and that was heart breaking. I can’t say that medical marijuana would have extended her life, but I do believe that it very well may have given her an option that would have alleviated her suffering without depriving her of her faculties, senses and ability to enjoy the precious little time she had left.
Medical marijuana most certainly extended my wife, Laurie’s life by three and a half years. She was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer in 2007, and died in 2011. Ingesting marijuana was the only way she could tolerate the chemo that kept her alive. Early in her treatment she was going to stop taking chemo, until she tried medical marijuana to offset the side effects. It dramatically improved the quality of her life, until ultimately succumbing to the tumor.
The aldermen who are considering a medical marijuana moratorium, are playing with people’s lives. It is simply unconscionable that they would delay for even one day, the help that many Newton residents so desperately need.
The State’s setback requirements for medical marijuana dispensaries provide far more of a buffer zone from residences and schools, than the City requires for liquor stores. So what exactly is the zoning problem some aldermen are concerned with? This moratorium has more to do with the ego of some of the aldermen, and the ignorance of others.
Fortunately we have aldermen like Ted, Greer Swiston, Amy Sangiolo, and others, who really do understand the imperative of this cause. They will need our support to defeat this moratorium. I hope other Newton residents will be emailing their aldermen today. All the email addresses can be found on the City website.
To Dan Fahey’s question, between the regulations by the State of how a dispensary can be located and our own zoning code as guideline … our Planning Department has significant guidance for approving a dispensary in a reasonable manner. However, until we have a specific zoning regulation for Registered Medical Dispensaries (RMD), it would be at the discretion of our Planning Dept.
To answer the question:
I firmly believe that it is neither. At the working session almost every one of my colleagues voiced his/her support both in favor of dispensaries and specifically in favor of a dispensary in Newton.
Where there was a difference of opinion was the best way to achieve getting a dispensary that would best serve and also protect the residents of Newton.
I firmly believe that we have ample guidelines now that would result in a well placed dispensary and that if we have this moratorium, we will risk eliminating ourselves from getting an RMD because Newton belongs to Middlesex County and only 5 RMDs, at most, are allowed in any given county and Middlesex has received the most requests by far.
Most of our surrounding towns belong to another county and if they get a dispensary, it would be even more unlikely that the State will use a Middlesex County dispensary to us here in Newton.
The counter balance is that if a patient can not have reasonable access to an RMD to receive medication, he/she would be granted a license to grow and produce the medication for him/her self. Though only licensed patients can have such an arrangement in their home, given the number of potential patients we would have in Newton, it would be a nightmare to try to detect and regulate without violating a lot of medical privacy. However, the likelihood of such a waiver being granted to a patient living in a town that has an RMD located in the town would be greatly reduced and thus make the situation much easier to police.
Therefore, I would not want to risk the possibility of there NOT being a dispensary in this city. Thus, my opposition to this moratorium.
While I would prefer no moratorium at all, I have been persuaded that given the progress that state is making on the issue right now, a moratorium until the end of the year would not impact our chances and I would be willing to accept it as a compromise.
There are I think 35 licenses to be granted (in time) among 350 municipalities statewide. Newton’s primary risk in this new Massachusetts industry is becoming officially known as not a leader in new ventures but a hindrance.
For the interested reader, HERE is the link to the law and regulations that was passed in Massachusetts about Medical use of Marijuana.
And HERE is the link for the actual law that was passed in 2012.
I am happy to report that the Board of Aldermen responded to all of your emails and calls and compromised to approve a shorter moratorium through December 31, 2013. The chair and vice chair of the Zoning and Planning Committee, Ald. Marcia Johnson and Ald. Vicky Danberg, respectively, pledged to get the work done to approve a zoning ordinance for a medical marijuana dispensary before the end of the term. Ald. Swiston spoke very eloquently about her reasons for shortening the moratorium and moving forward as quickly as possible. Ald. Schwarz and Ald. Yates, who participate on the medical marijuana dispensary working group, made clear that this item is ready to move forward.
Thank you to everyone who emailed or called their aldermen. It really did have an impact.
Terrific! And thank you to all – neighbors and Aldermen!
Janet
So, what’s the process from here?
Do we proactively seek an entity to propose setting up an RMD, or does the state first decide which communities it is willing to award the RMD contract to? [I’d assume the latter isn’t feasible, since one would think the state would want to choose based on bids by specific RMD wannabes.]
Also, can anyone speak to what the thought process is behind allowing, in certain circumstances, for individuals to grow weed in their own homes. That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
I suspect there are crying out that there is an RMD “disaster waiting to happen” in Watertown, too. Marijuana is certainly less lethal than alcohol. (I know people who brew beer in their basements.)
Sounds like someone has watched Reefer Madness, too many times!
I actually support full legalization of marijuana [with protections], but that hasn’t happened yet I don’t believe.
Applications have been flowing into the state DPH since late August. Middlesex County received over 40 applications, I believe, for the 5 slots (MAX) that they can have … several have requested Newton as a location (as testified by Commissioner Zalesnik who has been receiving requests and inquiries).
By mid/end of November (I think it’s Nov 21), we go into Phase II of the state process. The current belief is that the State will start “okaying” RMD’s in January 2014. An approved RMD will have an identified distribution location as well as an identified growth location.
In answer to the question of how/why homegrown marijuana is on the books … I don’t know, but it is. I would imagine it may have had something to do with the difficulties the restriction of only 35 RMDs will be allowed in the whole state .. and there are many transporting restrictions and the patients in need of medical marijuana often have mobility restrictions. Taking all of that into consideration, the goals was to have a solution to get the medication to patients in hard to reach places.
I don’t share the enthusiasm for a December moratorium.
The Phase 2 application deadline is November 21st. That means any dispensary applicant in Newton will not be able to identify a specific location by the designated date. The State will allow applicants to amend their Phase 2 application as zoning evolves in their host community, but they plan on starting to award dispensary licenses in January.
An applicant in Newton will first have to wait until zoning is established. Then for any appeal period to run. Then secure a building. That process could easily take six months to one year. Is the State going to wait a year for an applicant in Newton, when applicants in other Middlesex communities submit high scoring applications on time? I doubt it! Even if the State were willing to wait, those other applicants are going to head right into Court, and try to force the State to issue them licenses.
The Board of Aldermen should have either acted earlier, or relied on setbacks the State has established for medical marijuana dispensaries, from residences and schools. Those setbacks provide more than adequate protection. For example, the State setbacks would have effectively blocked a dispensary from locating in a village center. I would argue that the setbacks are too stringent, far exceeding the local restrictions we place on liquor stores.
Unfortunately, there are some members of the Board with egos the size of Mt. Rushmore. Others are control freaks, who can’t stand the thought of not having total approval over a new use. And of course there are those who simply oppose medical marijuana. The only good thing about this moratorium, is that we will know exactly who to blame if Newton does not get a medical marijuana dispensary.
.
Can any of our state legislators explain the rationale for the five per county limit? I knew Middlesex was by far the most populous county but didn’t know by how much. Take a look at the map here (you need to click on ‘larger image”:
http://digital-vector-maps.com/state-maps-detail/4374/Massachusetts-County-Populations-Map-Adobe-Illustrator.htm#
We have 1.4 million people, Franklin County has 72,000, and we both get five? Is there any potential for expanding numbers in the future, kind of like with charter schools?
How will we prevent, if any of you even want to do so, these dispensaries from really becoming more of recreational drug dealers, while still serving some of the people who will really medically benefit from it? This is what’s happened at least in California and probably other places where medical marijuana is allowed. Many of the dispensaries seem more like the old “head shops” that catered to the cachet of being an illegal recreational drug user.
@Barry– You need a doctor’s prescription to walk in the door.
I was a bit concerned to see an email circulating around that equates dispensaries with an armageddon of druggies and addicts choking the streets of Newton. I cannot share the email here as it did not come to my account (my wife got it). If anyone else has it personally, feel free to share it here. My fear here is that information is being passed that may cause people to fundamentally misunderstand the purpose of these dispensaries.
A more practical question: one thing the email mentions is a hearing at City Hall on Wednesday the
17th13th. I do not see that on the city web site; does anyone have any information?@Doug – Hmm, the 17th is a Sunday
The 13th! Sorry (it wasn’t tHAT poorly written). Fixing my comment
Doug, was this it?
“Dear Newton Residents,
Marijuana dispensing joins are attempting to come and legally operate in Newton!
Next Wednesday, November 13th at 7PM, there will be a public healing in City Hall, before the Zoning and Planning Committee, and the Planning and Development Board to allow marijuana joints to be opened in our City.
Once these places are opened, there is a high chance that drug addicts will be roaming our streets on foot and in their cars. There is no doubt that the safety of our children will be further compromised by this, to say nothing of road safety, living standards and property values.
How can you help?
We encourage all concerned residents of Newton to come to protest this at 7PM 11/13/2013 against any zoning change that may allow for such joints to operate in Newton.
What else can you do to help?
1. Please call or email Mayor Warren: 617-7961100 or [email protected] to voice your concern.
2. Please call or email your aldermen. To locate your aldermen, please visit http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/aldermen/boalisting/default.asp
Remember: you have three aldermen: one Ward and two at Large
3. Sign on-line petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no-to-marijuana-in-newton/
4. Forward this email to all Newton residents you know
Thank you”
Nathan –
Does anyone know who is behind the effort to prohibit the dispensaries?
Yes. “Marijuana joints?” Cute. Also absolutely no context around medical Marijuana dispensaries, just hysterical propaganda. Shameful.
Still can’t find this meeting that is mentioned.
@Doug, it’s the Board’s regular meeting of the Zoning and Planning Committee. See here for details (note that the link will go dead after this Friday due to the way the City’s website operates): http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/55429
The email says there’s going to be a “public healing” at City Hall? Is Dr Phil meeting with Ted and Setti?
Thanks Chris, I’ll admit to my search on the site being cursory while I was simultaneously doing the math on my fantasy football team chances.
The email my wife got forwarded by a neighbor; I do not have its origin.
Hoss, I suspect the group will not be dispensing medical marihuana for this healing
@Doug – We also got the email forwarded to us. There really is clearly a deliberate effort to misrepresent the issue here. Ideally, the law change would have allowed for CVS, Walgreens, and the corner drugstore to act as dispensaries since they already are set up to dispense prescriptions of all kinds (including compounds that are a hell of a lot more addictive than what we’re talking about here)
Here is the permanent link to the November 13, 2013 Zoning and Planning Committee agenda and planning memos. The Planning Department memo on Registered Marijuana Dispensaries begins on page 13.
Thank you, Ted
Chris Steele — I assume anyone needing medical marijuana also has other prescription needs, so yes its really odd that they get what they need at more than one location. I can’t figure that logic out. Stupid
Yes Chris- -my immediate reaction to the email was “What next? Alcohol dispensaries? The neighborhood streets will be flooded with drunks clamoring for their booze 24 hours a day!” Not to mention your point that pharmacies dispense, by prescription, things far more addictive and harmful if misused.
Indeed, a deliberate attempt to misinform.
@Hoss – Precisely my point
@Doug – That in my mind is the one problem with the law as we have it. The Commonwealth seems to be taking a liquor store approach to what is a dispensary for a medically required and prescribed substance. Why not just adapt the mechanism in place now (pharmacies) to dispense medical substances?
In the meantime however, we should not be getting in the way of allowing this medical treatment for patients who so desperately require it.
I like sleuthing so I followed the petition link and noticed that the first signer’s name is also the name of someone who owns a relevant health care business.
http://analgesicsolutions.com/about.html
http://www.wbur.org/2010/04/12/oxycontin-doctor
Probably means nothing, but that’s all I found with a quick search.
Chris and Doug, the state and local responses to the voter-approved law have been an attempt to balance a number of competing laws and regulations as well as public concerns. For more information, visit the website of the Massachusetts Department of Health and Human Services.
The dispensary model seems to be what’s used in other states. I’m not at all certain that the pharmacists at Walgreens and CVS would even want to be handling this – I know that it’s hard enough for them dealing with controlled substances such as stimulants that have their own special legal requirements.
In Maine, in addition to dispensaries, they also use a caregiver model. I don’t know exactly how it works, but I think the caregiver grows his or her own marijuana, which is regulated but doesn’t operate at the same capacity as a dispensary. It could also be that the caregiver is an intermediary with the dispensary — I’m not sure.
Maine voted in recreational marijuana last week. Massachusetts pretends to be liberal but our history shows we hate vices. We were among the last to vote in parimutuel racing (horses), same w lottery, same w casinos, same w medical marijuana. We’re adding unnecessary costs and encouraging fraud by allowing only medical marijuana. We will almost certainly based on history be among the last to sell this easy to grow product in the same way we sell beer.